The ClueFinders: The Mystery of Microsneezia
The ClueFinders: The Mystery of Microsneezia is a short chapter book first printed in March 2004. It is authored by Ellen Weiss and Mel Friedman. It is one of two ClueFinders books released by Learning Company Books, the other being The ClueFinders: The Mystery of the Backlot Banshee. The book contains several illustrations with interactive puzzles that the reader can solve to learn clues about the story. The book seems to be mainly aimed at 3rd and 4th graders, as it contains an advert for The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: Mystery of Mathra and The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures: Puzzle of the Pyramid in some of its last pages. Plot Joni's uncle, Dr. Horace Pythagoras, sets out on an adventure on the mysterious island Microsneezia, a land full of all kinds of odd plants and creatures that cause irritations such as sneezing, itching, and fainting to people. While exploring Microsneezia's jungles with some of the local guides, Dr. Pythagoras discovers the vegemecium plant, the largest single-celled vegetable on Earth. He excitedly takes a sample from its root, but the guides are wary and warn him that the plant is said to cause bad luck. Dr. Pythagoras dismisses their concerns as merely superstitions, when suddenly, a giant vine grabs Dr. Pythagoras. Meanwhile, the ClueFinders are busy trying to decide what kind of pizza to have for Joni's birthday. After settling on a pizza with toppings that they all like, Joni receives presents from each of the other ClueFinders. Suddenly, the ClueFinders' video phone starts making urgent noises, and displays the words "Sunrise 441" with an encrypted message beneath it. Joni recognizes the message as a distress signal from Uncle Horace, and the message is written using a secret code she developed with him when she was younger. After decoding the message, which reveals latitude and longitude coordinates for Dr. Pythagoras' location, the ClueFinders set out to the island Microsneezia. After flying in a biplane and traveling over land on donkeys to get closer to Microsneezia, the ClueFinders rent a hot air balloon to make it the rest of the way there, as there are no ports there and very few people willing to travel there. While in the hot air balloon, Santiago uses a device he invented to try to track down Dr. Pythagoras' heartbeat. Suddenly, a swarm of vicious flying insects attacks the hot air balloon. The ClueFinders quickly escape using parasails. Some of the bugs tear a hole in Leslie's parasail, and Owen saves her from falling to her death. After landing on the island, the ClueFinders begin making their way through the dense forest, tracking a heartbeat that they believe belongs to Dr. Pythagoras. Along the way, various insects constantly bite at them. The only one not to get bug-bitten is Leslie, who seemingly possesses an immunity to the bugs. The ClueFinders discover a trail that leads to the spot where Dr. Pythagoras was abducted. There, they save another man from the clutches of a plant, who introduces himself as Freddy, the head guide who had been accompanying Dr. Pythagoras. When Dr. Pythagoras was snatched up by a plant, all of the guides started to run, but Freddy, feeling guilty for leaving Dr. Pythagoras, returned to get him. By that time, all that remained was one of the boots Dr. Pythagoras was wearing, and then Freddy was snatched up by a plant as well. After rescuing Freddy, the ClueFinders find Dr. Pythagoras' video phone, which has a garbled message on it. They unscramble the words, revealing instructions to head north by northeast. As the day ends and it gets dark, the ClueFinders are forced to take a break. Joni detects a familiar scent, which turns out to be bubblegum that Leslie brought with her, since she recently took a strong liking to it. The next morning, all of the ClueFinders wake up feeling achy from bug bites they suffered during the night, except for Joni, who was mysteriously spared from being bitten. Joni asks LapTrap to make breakfast, and he reluctantly goes into the forest to gather some firewood. Suddenly, LapTrap encounters what appears to be a exact copy of himself. Suddenly, the lookalike fires a beam that fries LapTrap's circuits. The lookalike triumphantly introduces himself as S.N.A.I.L.L, declaring himself to be a new and improved version of LapTrap developed by the military. However, his behavior proved too much for the military too handle, and when Dr. Pythagoras recommended they banish S.N.A.I.L.L. to a remote location rather than destroy him, S.N.A.I.L.L. was sent to Microsneezia. As LapTrap's circuits go dead, S.N.A.I.L.L. leaves him to go find the other ClueFinders. When S.N.A.I.L.L. locates the ClueFinders, he pretends to be LapTrap and tells them he knows how to find Uncle Horace. He proceeds to lead the ClueFinders into various dangers under the guise that he's only trying to follow the quickest route to Dr. Pythagoras. After a while, the ClueFinders realize that they've only been going around in circles. S.N.A.I.L.L. feigns innocence, and the ClueFinders decide to look for an alternative. Leslie pulls out a book about the flora and fauna of Microsneezia, written by a man who was marooned there for some time in 1913. The author describes a bird which he named the birdhound, which is supposed to have the most acute sense of smell of any animal on the planet. Joni takes out Uncle Horace's boot that they obtained earlier, and says that they could use it to have the birdhound pick up the scent and track Uncle Horace for them. The book describes the call of the birdhound, and when Owen tries to make the sound himself, it attracts a bunch of birds to them. After discerning a real birdhound from a bunch of imitators, they have it sniff Dr. Pythagoras' boot, and start following the bird. S.N.A.I.L.L.'s insists that they should follow him instead, but they ignore his demands, angering him. After making their way through more perils, the ClueFinders arrive at a series of cave entrances, where they are suddenly caught in a rope net. A group of people approach them, and one of them introduces himself as Lou, the mayor and president of Microsneezia, and explains that he and the other people are inhabitants of the island. He explains that they live in the caves to avoid the bugs. Joni asks if she and the other ClueFinders can be let go. Lou consults S.N.A.I.L.L., who suggests that the ClueFinders should be locked up instead. Upon hearing this, Joni realizes that he's not really LapTrap, and S.N.A.I.L.L. snickers and reveals his true name to the ClueFinders. The ClueFinders are forced to walk down a steep slope towards one of the cave entrances, which is blocked by a huge boulder. The birdhound has stopped at the cave's entrance, and points towards the cave like a hunting dog would, and then waddles off. The ClueFinders realize that this is where Uncle Horace is. Lou has some of the townspeople roll the bolder away, and after the ClueFinders are pushed into the cave, the bolder is rolled back into place, trapping them in the cave. The ClueFinders wander in complete darkness, holding onto to one another so as not to lose each other. Eventually, Joni notices a faint light ahead. They approach it, and then hear the sound of LapTrap's voice addressing Dr. Pythagoras. They excitedly shout for them, and a heavy metal door opens, revealing Dr. Pythagoras inside of a small laboratory. LapTrap is also there, having been fixed up by Dr. Pythagoras after he was captured and tossed into the cave. Dr. Pythagoras explains that the islanders have been desperate for a way to deal with the perils of the island, and S.N.A.I.L.L. took advantage of that and convinced them to obey his demands by telling them he could help them. Dr. Pythagoras seemed to be immune to the island's flora and fauna, so he was imprisoned and forced to work on finding the source of the immunity. Leslie informs him that she has also been mysteriously immune most of the time, except for one night where only Joni seemed to be immune instead. The ClueFinders and Dr. Pythagoras set to work making a chart of all the things they have been in possession of during their time on Microsneezia in order to try to find out why certain people were immune. As the ClueFinders set to work on the chart, Dr. Pythagoras pulls a piece of bubblegum out of pocket, and sheepishly explains that he developed a fondness for it while in Thailand. This turns out to be the source of the immunity, which is confirmed by the chart. Dr. Pythagoras picks up a phone that he was given to call the Microsneezians with after finding the source of the immunity. The Microsneezians let them out of the cave, and Dr. Pythagoras presents his findings to them. S.N.A.I.L.L. protests and tries to turn the Microsneezians against them, but Lou dismisses him, saying that he never trusted him anyways, and proceeds to test out Dr. Pythagoras' bubblegum. The gum immediately thwarts off incoming bugs and reduces Lou's allergy symptoms. Leslie quickly begins sharing her stash of bubblegum with the Microsneezians while saving some for her group. Lou then orders for S.N.A.I.L.L. to be locked up. Lou says that the ClueFinders can't be let go until they find a perpetual supply of bubblegum. Leslie quickly whips out her book about the flora and fauna of Microsneezia and says that there is a reserve of liquid bubblegum in the Whining Forest of Microsneezia. The Microsneezians are too scared of the Whining Forest to go there themselves, so they send the ClueFinders there while keeping Dr. Pythagoras with them as leverage. As the ClueFinders walk through the Whining Forest, the trees around them start speaking in whiny voices, begging them to go away. The ClueFinders do their best to block out the noise, and after making their way through the Whining Forest, they start smelling the bubblegum quarry nearby. They reach a place called Wordcliff, where a stone face in the mountainside begins speaking to them, and tells them to look for a hidden set of instructions on the cliff walls. The message tells the ClueFinders to push a button under the stone face's nose. This reveals a hidden passage in the cliff, and the ClueFinders enter it. After making their way up a set of stairs, they push open a door to reveal the bubblegum quarry. Joni and Owen decide to take a look around, and Joni notices some long tall roots they could use to climb down. Leslie observes that they are the roots of the vegemecium plant, and explains that the plant's roots reach all throughout the island, although in most areas they are completely underground. As Joni and Owen climb down the roots, Owen slips and falls onto one of the roots, which bounces him back upward, allowing Joni to grab him. Owen's impact forced one of the roots down into the bubblegum quarry, and the root immediately starts absorbing the liquid bubblegum. Leslie hypothesizes that this will spread the bubblegum and its effects all throughout the island. Behind them, the cliff wall collapses, closing up the path they used to arrive at the quarry. The ClueFinders begin looking for an alternative route to find their way back. When the cliff wall collapsed, a lot of rocks and debris fell into the bubblegum quarry, providing them a route across by using the rocks like stepping stones. Joni asks LapTrap to analyze the rocks and look for patterns they can use to find a path all the way across. After finishing his analysis, LapTrap prints out a grid with the stones numbered, and tells them to only step on the even-numbered stones to cross safely. Suddenly, a similar-sounding voice claims that it's a trap, and that they should only follow the odd-numbered stones. The ClueFinders look up and see two identical-looking computers, and realize that S.N.A.I.L.L. must've gotten loose. Owen wonders how they'll tell which one is the real one, but Joni and Leslie exchange knowing looks. Leslie casually says that following the right path will be as easy as going to the Mongolian restaurant on Clement Street, and Joni says that it'll be easier than when they had to ride camels on their way to Microsneezia. Only the real LapTrap is able to detect the false information in their statements based on his memories of his time with the ClueFinders, and states that it should've been California Street they went to, and donkeys that they rode on. S.N.A.I.L.L. sputters furiously at being outsmarted, and Leslie ties a bandanna around LapTrap to distinguish him from his impostor. The ClueFinders then proceed to cross the quarry, following LapTrap's instructions. After making it across the quarry, they all stop to catch their breath, when suddenly S.N.A.I.L.L. cries out that his batteries are failing, and he plummets into the bubblegum quarry. LapTrap feels that he couldn't leave a fellow computer behind, and briefly lends some of his own power to S.N.A.I.L.L. to help him out of the bubblegum. Then the ClueFinders tie up S.N.A.I.L.L. to prevent him from causing anymore trouble, and take him back with them. As they travel across the island, the ClueFinders notice that the distribution of the bubblegum through the vegemecium's root system is already taking effect, and the bugs are gone and the air is clearer. They eventually find their way back to Dr. Pythagoras and the Microsneezians. Lou is ecstatic that they were successful, and Dr. Pythagoras embraces Joni. By this point, S.N.A.I.L.L. has collapsed again, and although the ClueFinders are reluctant to help him, Dr. Pythagoras is certain that S.N.A.I.L.L. is only the way he is because of the microchip implanted in him. Dr. Pythagoras and LapTrap take S.N.A.I.L.L. to the laboratory in the cave to extract the chip. Afterwards, the three of them return to the ClueFinders, and S.N.A.I.L.L. has a blue stripe painted across him to distinguish him from LapTrap, and a very cheerful disposition. The ClueFinders' group finds the hot air balloon and fixes it up to leave the island, bidding farewell to the townspeople. After making a few stops, the ClueFinders are finally able to return home. Dr. Pythagoras publishes an article about his discovery of the vegemecium plant to a scientific journal, and the ClueFinders fall back to their normal hobbies. Characters *Joni Savage *Santiago Rivera *Leslie Clark *Owen Lam *LapTrap *Dr. Horace Pythagoras *S.N.A.I.L.L. *Freddy *Lou Trivia *The events of this story take place sometime after The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures: Secret of the Living Volcano, since at one point, the ClueFinders recall the Living Island and CrypTiles. *This book mentions that, at some point during The Incredible Toy Store Adventure, the ClueFinders went down a giant slide. However; no such event occurs in the game. Category:Books Category:Bonus materials